00:00:01
foreign
00:00:07
you might have bumped into them it was
00:00:09
really good money I have to carry up
00:00:12
this button interacted with them they
00:00:14
might be uncomfortable I feel a lot like
00:00:18
loneliness are or even worked with them
00:00:21
I honestly don't think that we have it
00:00:22
easy the rising of course it's just
00:00:25
something that we couldn't expect but do
00:00:27
we really see them what are they hiding
00:00:31
this is beyond Plain Sight
00:00:36
right now a simple type of really costs
00:00:39
close to four dollars I'll get like two
00:00:41
veggie one meat my grocery bill has
00:00:43
increased by 20 percent
00:00:47
my rent is going to increase by about 15
00:00:49
percent which
00:00:51
um translates to around 300 so date
00:00:54
nights we should try to stay at home of
00:00:57
course I can't do that all the time
00:00:59
really like a normal girlfriend so
00:01:01
whenever I take my girlfriend out for
00:01:02
meals right I'll try to search for views
00:01:05
like one for one or even like 20 to 30
00:01:07
discounts
00:01:09
thank you
00:01:12
okay I got a car let's go
00:01:18
it's a Friday hello hello
00:01:24
and I'm hanging out with a different
00:01:27
crowd millennials
00:01:30
how often do you go out to socialize
00:01:31
weekly or every other week we will check
00:01:34
out like what new restaurants and bars
00:01:36
we spent about 100 ish per packs for for
00:01:39
dinner and drinks when we go out yeah
00:01:42
and to be honest that amount is quite
00:01:45
okay for me because it includes drinks
00:01:49
we came by private hire car just now and
00:01:51
you told me the car that that's actually
00:01:53
your preferred mode of Transport how
00:01:55
much do you spend a month I actually
00:01:57
take grab like 99 of the time when I
00:02:00
have to leave my house it used to be
00:02:02
like closer to 7 800 a month I'm trying
00:02:07
to cut down I just got used to
00:02:08
convenience like I cannot imagine having
00:02:11
to wake up two and a half hours earlier
00:02:14
now anymore so it's become part of your
00:02:16
lifestyle yes
00:02:18
yes what about savings do you put money
00:02:20
aside yeah I try to put like the
00:02:22
recommended amount which is about 20 of
00:02:25
the income
00:02:27
um I feel like I've done pretty well
00:02:28
like ever since I graduated but recently
00:02:32
my dog felt sick so he basically wiped
00:02:34
out like most of my savings
00:02:37
I spent an entire day with Joey to look
00:02:40
at where her money goes apart from
00:02:43
whining and dining and private hire cars
00:02:46
so what's next
00:02:48
class so
00:02:51
it helps me to stay consistent with like
00:02:53
my fingers
00:02:55
throw in her groceries and other daily
00:02:58
Necessities Joey spends up to 3 000
00:03:01
Singapore dollars a month
00:03:04
but you see her monthly pay isn't fixed
00:03:08
like many her age Joey has chosen to be
00:03:11
a gate worker which means while she's
00:03:15
her own boss her pain fluctuates
00:03:17
according to the projects she gets
00:03:21
so what's really beyond the surface in
00:03:25
the U.S 6 in 10 young adults are worried
00:03:28
they will never meet their financial
00:03:30
goals due to the rising costs of living
00:03:33
in the UK inflation and slow wage growth
00:03:37
are forcing some young adults to move
00:03:39
back home so how are our young adults
00:03:42
ferry in Singapore
00:03:44
my morning coffee with milk at the
00:03:46
Hawker Center is up about 10 cents
00:03:51
groceries for my family of five is 53
00:03:54
dollars more a month now
00:03:58
if I choose to eat out my plate of
00:04:01
chicken rice is up 30 cents
00:04:09
FS within Asia are projected to increase
00:04:12
by 5.4 percent this year
00:04:18
and a full tank of petrol costs me at
00:04:21
least 22 dollars more today
00:04:29
inflation in Singapore hit 7 in 2022 the
00:04:34
highest in almost 14 years
00:04:43
Christopher gee is a keen Observer of
00:04:46
Singapore's economy inflation has spiked
00:04:49
in the last few years why is that so
00:04:51
historically Singapore's inflation rate
00:04:53
has ranged around about two to three
00:04:56
percent in 2021 when the coveted
00:04:58
measures will start to be lifted
00:05:00
inflation picked up a little bit and
00:05:02
when the economy started to open up
00:05:04
completely of course inflation has risen
00:05:07
even further from there and we're
00:05:09
running around about five six and we've
00:05:11
seen the print of even seven percent
00:05:13
these source of that inflation is
00:05:16
complex we've had the war in Ukraine
00:05:19
lots of Supply shocks from around the
00:05:22
region Singapore of course Imports all
00:05:24
of its food another contributing factor
00:05:26
to inflation over the last few years is
00:05:29
the amount of government support So in
00:05:31
Singapore there was a big package in
00:05:33
2020 and that was followed up in 2020 uh
00:05:36
one 2022 and in fact you can think about
00:05:38
this very simply as those CDC vouchers
00:05:40
that we all got that all contributes to
00:05:43
an increase in the money supply and with
00:05:46
that additional money in people's
00:05:48
pockets they're able to pay for that
00:05:52
limited pool of goods and services and
00:05:55
therefore prices rise which hopes up
00:05:57
worse off when it comes to inflation the
00:05:59
young generally don't have that much
00:06:00
income and today a lot of young people
00:06:03
have aspirations we are concerned about
00:06:06
the young spending needs and the impact
00:06:08
of inflation on them some people might
00:06:10
have to resort to borrowing
00:06:11
unfortunately
00:06:14
how are young adults grappling with the
00:06:17
rising cost of living
00:06:19
The Institute of policy studies and
00:06:21
talking point conducted a survey late
00:06:24
last year
00:06:26
we pulled over 850 singaporeans aged
00:06:29
between 21 and 29. to find out how they
00:06:33
are managing their finances for the
00:06:35
purpose of this show we'll turn them
00:06:37
millennials
00:06:39
most respondents 9 in 10 say they are
00:06:43
personally affected by Rising costs
00:06:46
three in ten say they spend more than
00:06:49
they earn
00:06:51
I worry about money constantly honey is
00:06:54
paying off a student loan and a housing
00:06:57
loan her Housing and Development board
00:06:59
flat will be ready in three years that's
00:07:02
also when she plans to get married are
00:07:05
you on track for payments for your large
00:07:07
expenses yes or no no my hdb is around
00:07:10
300 000 and from my school loan I'm left
00:07:14
50 15 000 and it will just cut down
00:07:17
automatically in my credit card you are
00:07:21
paying off your student loan using your
00:07:23
credit card yes okay and do you pay on
00:07:26
time for your credit card yes but there
00:07:29
are some days we have missed do you
00:07:30
manage to save
00:07:33
um if I were to ask you to be honest
00:07:35
with yourself what do you think is the
00:07:37
main reason why you haven't been able to
00:07:39
save as much as you want to there are
00:07:41
some things which I feel like I'm
00:07:43
distracted by and peer pressure like
00:07:46
your friends having the same makeup
00:07:47
product the same bag and you kind of
00:07:49
like feel like you missed out online
00:07:51
doesn't really help because everyone is
00:07:53
promoting everything they're making it
00:07:56
too easy yeah and it's like tempting for
00:07:58
you to shop more and get more
00:08:02
foundations in the same shape you know
00:08:05
what I'm hearing girl the online
00:08:06
shopping yeah it's an addiction I would
00:08:08
say the unnecessary spendings because
00:08:11
there are extra things that I will feel
00:08:14
good after spending it giving an example
00:08:17
of a very expensive unnecessary item
00:08:20
that make you feel good usually higher
00:08:22
end makeup around 300 how often do you
00:08:26
do that to plot down 300 for makeup for
00:08:29
example um I will try not to make it
00:08:31
every month but it's becoming to be an
00:08:34
every month thing I think it's fair to
00:08:37
say that honey spends almost all of her
00:08:39
take-home pay every month she also puts
00:08:42
at least 900 on her credit card on
00:08:45
shopping and eating out
00:08:47
using credit cards is the norm nowadays
00:08:50
but I wonder if honey is unwittingly
00:08:54
getting herself into more debt
00:09:03
foreign
00:09:22
console didn't cost me anything I own
00:09:25
another brand of game console and I
00:09:27
stopped it for friends so that both of
00:09:29
us can try new games without spending
00:09:31
extra money
00:09:36
almost all the furniture in my house is
00:09:38
second hand this mattress is from
00:09:41
Carousel and my bed frame is from
00:09:44
Facebook Marketplace there's this shelf
00:09:47
that I got off on Facebook Marketplace
00:09:48
as well I searched for a really long
00:09:50
time so I wanted this as a divider
00:09:53
between my sort of my bedroom and my
00:09:55
living space
00:09:56
[Music]
00:09:57
and my super huge dining table
00:10:01
some dining chairs plus my fridge and my
00:10:04
washing machine are also moved from
00:10:06
carousel
00:10:07
since I didn't have the money and I had
00:10:09
a lot of time I just spent a lot of time
00:10:12
looking for secondhand items instead
00:10:17
Joey started renting two years ago and
00:10:20
these second-hand deals have saved her
00:10:23
an estimated 4 000 Singapore dollars
00:10:27
I don't really budget religiously but I
00:10:31
pretty much spend about 2.5 k to around
00:10:34
3K on necessities and that includes
00:10:37
eating out buying groceries and like
00:10:41
transport and shopping and I pay about a
00:10:43
thousand for my rent I'm sharing it with
00:10:45
someone else currently and I spend about
00:10:48
300 on insurance and I try to save about
00:10:52
a thousand a month
00:10:54
in a joint survey by The Institute of
00:10:57
policy studies and talking point three
00:11:00
in ten young adults between the ages of
00:11:02
21 and 29 say they rely on credit as a
00:11:06
means to cope
00:11:09
lines of credit include credit cards
00:11:12
almost to anyone can apply for one you
00:11:15
just need to earn at least 2 500
00:11:18
Singapore dollars a month and you can
00:11:20
borrow up to two months of your income
00:11:23
apart from credit cards there is another
00:11:26
line of credit that's even easier to get
00:11:34
[Music]
00:11:39
it's very seamless convenient and very
00:11:43
easy to use and I do need an eyebrow
00:11:45
pencil so let me show you I entered the
00:11:48
app and I started the makeup shop that I
00:11:51
want to find my brow definer and I click
00:11:54
checkout and automatically Auto me
00:11:56
splits my payments by now pay later is
00:11:59
just as its name suggests this payment
00:12:02
method allows honey to pay for a third
00:12:05
of her purchase up front
00:12:07
which is 15 today
00:12:10
another 15 a month later and the last 15
00:12:15
a month after that there are no extra or
00:12:19
hidden costs so I bought this jacket a
00:12:22
month ago using a Tommy my makeup
00:12:26
product this perfume hydrating spray
00:12:30
cleanser mask
00:12:33
I've been using it right now pay later
00:12:35
since two years ago there's other
00:12:37
options instead of just told me I would
00:12:39
say grab pay later but grappy little is
00:12:42
more for my rides my favorite thing
00:12:44
about binary is that
00:12:47
um I don't have to pay in one goal
00:12:50
during the month itself so I can really
00:12:52
split my course whereas credit card
00:12:55
payments is a monthly payment and if you
00:12:58
miss the payment it will incur charges
00:13:03
the use of buying our pay later or bnpl
00:13:06
Services has been on the rise
00:13:10
in 2020 there were 114 million Singapore
00:13:14
dollars worth of transactions recorded
00:13:17
in 2021 that went up to a whopping 440
00:13:22
million Singapore dollars that's an
00:13:25
almost four times increase in just one
00:13:28
year
00:13:29
[Music]
00:13:34
as bnpl Services become more widespread
00:13:37
I have to wonder if there are too good
00:13:40
to be true
00:13:49
one expert feels that young adults are
00:13:52
not as financially literate as they
00:13:55
should be
00:13:57
would you say that younger singaporeans
00:13:58
are more in-depth today compared to
00:14:00
previous generations they definitely are
00:14:03
more at risk
00:14:04
of getting into more debt compared to
00:14:07
the previous generations part of the
00:14:10
reason is a wide accessibility of
00:14:12
different instruments that they can get
00:14:14
into debt with credit cards have been uh
00:14:17
you know fairly utilized by now pay
00:14:20
later is also coming of age so the issue
00:14:24
is that when we have a scheme like
00:14:26
buying our pay data loan has two parts
00:14:28
one is the principal and the other one
00:14:30
is the interest so by now pay later does
00:14:33
nothing to the principal the challenge
00:14:35
is that there are other hidden costs
00:14:39
that many people might not be aware of
00:14:41
suppose you might not be able to make
00:14:43
the payment for an unfortunate incident
00:14:45
like you know losing your job or some
00:14:47
other medical expenses that might come
00:14:49
in that might actually have an impact on
00:14:52
the penalties that you have to pay in
00:14:53
that penalties act as sort of a pseudo
00:14:56
interest in some sense so even though
00:14:58
you think it's interest-free over a
00:15:00
period of time that might be one of the
00:15:02
things you have to worry about so we did
00:15:04
the survey uh back in 2021 we found out
00:15:08
that many of the young adults from 18 to
00:15:11
30 year olds actually have unsustainable
00:15:14
levels of debt that's more than a a
00:15:17
monthly income so between one and six
00:15:19
month income in debt levels to about one
00:15:22
in three had that levels of debt now if
00:15:25
you look at it from whether they could
00:15:27
pay it off under the current
00:15:29
circumstances it might be a little
00:15:30
challenging how worried should we be
00:15:32
having levels of debt which is high
00:15:35
early on in their life might get them
00:15:37
into a habit of taking more debt
00:15:44
I'll pay later Services become more
00:15:46
widespread are they changing how an
00:15:49
entire generation spends
00:15:54
I ask one of the biggest players in the
00:15:57
market some tough questions every time
00:16:00
the npl is mentioned people say oh it's
00:16:02
a bad thing
00:16:09
[Music]
00:16:22
young adults are at risk of getting into
00:16:25
more debt today compared to previous
00:16:27
generations due to easily accessible
00:16:30
lines of credit an emerging popular
00:16:33
service buy now pay later
00:16:36
[Music]
00:16:43
assistant professor Stephanie Lynn
00:16:45
believes that the marketing of buying
00:16:48
our pay later Services actively targets
00:16:51
young adults
00:16:54
on its face bmpl is kind of a win-win it
00:16:58
can help retailers sell more volume and
00:17:01
it can give consumers access to products
00:17:03
that they weren't able to afford before
00:17:04
sbmpl Services get more popular how do
00:17:07
you think it would impact the spending
00:17:09
habits of young people a lot of the
00:17:10
messaging in the advertisements are
00:17:12
specifically geared towards younger
00:17:13
consumers and trying to change a little
00:17:16
bit the mindset of the consumer so that
00:17:19
they feel that they can engage in
00:17:22
self-indultan spending
00:17:24
if you take a look at this website they
00:17:26
say things like we know what you're
00:17:27
thinking you feel like you've hustled
00:17:29
hard enough for a treat this is textbook
00:17:31
licensing which is basically trying to
00:17:33
tell you it's okay you deserve to spend
00:17:36
a lot of money because you've done this
00:17:38
virtuous Behavior one way they position
00:17:41
themselves is by equating themselves
00:17:43
with responsible spending so saying that
00:17:45
if you use by now pay later you're
00:17:46
spending responsibly or you're budgeting
00:17:50
in a joint survey by The Institute of
00:17:53
policy studies and talking point we
00:17:55
found that for those who use buy now pay
00:17:58
later or bnpl Services 7 in 10 say they
00:18:03
spent more each month now and 6 in 10
00:18:06
are unable to pay their monthly
00:18:09
installments in full
00:18:12
foreign
00:18:15
concerns about bnpl services to atomy
00:18:19
it's one of the larger players in
00:18:21
Singapore's buy now pay later scene
00:18:24
its target market Millennials and gen
00:18:27
Z's the majority of our base is between
00:18:30
21 to 29 that accounts for more than a
00:18:34
quarter of our users we've spoken to a
00:18:36
few experts and every time bmpl is
00:18:39
mentioned people say oh it's a bad thing
00:18:41
do you think your industry deserves this
00:18:43
reputation I don't believe we deserve
00:18:46
that reputation but then again I am part
00:18:49
of the industry right we are working
00:18:51
with the various other organizations
00:18:54
that offer this by you know launching
00:18:56
this code of conduct by being a
00:18:58
regulated organization and that helps us
00:19:01
hopefully to build consumer confidence
00:19:04
in US is your service encouraging people
00:19:07
to spend and spend as an organization
00:19:10
whenever an individual is not able to
00:19:13
pay us back the remaining two-thirds of
00:19:16
the transaction there's no way that we
00:19:18
would make money as a company so it's in
00:19:21
our own best interest to ensure that the
00:19:23
user is able to pay us back
00:19:24
we have to be quite controlled in terms
00:19:27
of who we are giving our credit out to
00:19:30
Tomei has been very successful at that
00:19:33
and we have a default rate this is
00:19:36
meaning individuals who are unable to to
00:19:38
pay us back that is actually very much
00:19:41
below the industry average the
00:19:43
percentage of the users
00:19:45
who have defaulted has actually
00:19:48
decreased over time I'm just wondering
00:19:50
what is the impact of a service like
00:19:52
this on my credit history there is no
00:19:55
current impact but I think that younger
00:19:58
users should be aware that we don't want
00:20:01
to breed that habit of overextending
00:20:05
just because there's no impact to their
00:20:07
credit history at this point in time
00:20:08
you've said that you don't want young
00:20:10
people to over extend themselves but
00:20:12
that really conflicts with the messages
00:20:14
on your on your website that says
00:20:16
indulge today you know live in the
00:20:18
moment how do you reconcile that I don't
00:20:20
necessarily think there's a conflict the
00:20:22
reason being is that you can enjoy and
00:20:24
appreciate what you want now and be well
00:20:27
within your means to do it I don't think
00:20:30
it's necessarily a conflicting message
00:20:39
a code of conduct for bmpl providers
00:20:42
kicked in late last year it's not
00:20:44
mandatory although providers will have
00:20:46
to abide by it to get accredited under
00:20:49
the code all fees including late fees
00:20:52
are kept users cannot owe the bmpl
00:20:55
company more than two thousand dollars
00:20:57
at any one time unless they pass an
00:20:59
additional credit assessment and if they
00:21:02
miss a payment well their account with
00:21:04
that provider will be suspended but
00:21:07
there's nothing to stop them from using
00:21:09
multiple providers at the moment and
00:21:12
it's still unclear how this could affect
00:21:14
their credit history in the long run
00:21:17
[Music]
00:21:20
you see a parent lifestyle and
00:21:22
sustainable honestly no
00:21:27
I do have plans of moving overseas I
00:21:31
will be able to be comfortable there for
00:21:34
a lot less during my parents time their
00:21:37
house costs around 150 000. but housing
00:21:41
my fiance is already doubled 300 000.
00:21:44
talk about the people who say why not
00:21:47
just cut back on your spending but
00:21:50
um that's just not my priority right now
00:21:52
it's just different ways people live so
00:21:56
yeah I'll take cabs but I can eat Hawker
00:21:59
food like most days
00:22:01
as a mother I Am Naturally concerned
00:22:04
about what the lives of my three
00:22:06
children will look like after they enter
00:22:08
the workforce and start making their own
00:22:10
money as things get more expensive and
00:22:13
credit lines more attainable this
00:22:15
generation of youths is possibly at
00:22:18
greater risk of running into debt
00:22:20
compared to previous generations I guess
00:22:23
all I can do now is to continue to
00:22:25
educate my three children about the
00:22:27
risks of spending beyond their means
00:22:33
thank you
